Department Pushes Diversity Without Preferences

Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality
of affirmative action under certain conditions, the Department of
Education has issued a report outlining ways that schools and colleges
can achieve diversity without relying on racial preferences.

The report expands on a similar guide the department released last
year in the midst of public debate over the University of
Michigan’s admissions policies. Last June, the high court upheld
the consideration of race in admissions as long as applicants were
given individualized consideration and institutions did not rely on
race-based point systems. ("Affirmative Action Rulings Seen
Yielding Refinements in College-Entrance Plans," July 9, 2003.)

"President George W. Bush has challenged the education community to
develop innovative ways to achieve diversity in our schools without
falling back on illegal quotas," Kenneth L. Marcus, the Education
Department official who oversees the office for civil rights, says in
the new report. "Most educational leaders, particularly at the
postsecondary level, agree with the importance of that goal."

The document, "Achieving Diversity: Race-Neutral Alternatives in
American Education," was unveiled March 26.

As a result of reaction to last year’s guide, the department
has put more emphasis on K-12 approaches to achieving diversity without
racial preferences. Those options include school choice programs; state
efforts to align precollegiate curricula with college- admissions
requirements; and schools’ use of "lottery" systems, which the
report’s authors say can serve to achieve diversity without
race-based preferences. The report also describes partnerships between
colleges and K-12 systems; race-neutral federal, state, and
institutional student-aid programs; and college outreach programs,
among other options.

One highlighted outreach program is the "Humanities Out There"
initiative, which arranges to have students from the University of
California, Irvine, lead workshops on history, social science and other
subjects at high schools that have traditionally not sent many students
to the campus.

The report also points to state- run "virtual school" programs in
Florida, Kentucky, Texas, and other states. Those programs use the
Internet to offer students in low-performing and disadvantaged schools
a broader range of academic courses, the report says.

In addition, the report cites "early college" high schools, which
have drawn support from organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and ask students to follow a rigorous curriculum and expect
them to graduate with a college credit. One such school, the Bard High
School Early College in New York City, has shown promising results in
encouraging students to eventually attend four-year colleges, the
report says.

Idea ‘Clearinghouse’

Mr. Marcus said the goal of the report was to help colleges think
creatively about admissions and to comply with the Supreme
Court’s rulings, not to pressure them into choosing race-neutral
options.

"There is so much going on around the country that is creative,
constructive, and promising," he said in an interview last week. "We
hope to become a clearinghouse to make information available so that
educators don’t have to reinvent the wheel."

Angelo Ancheta, the legal director of the Civil Rights Project at
Harvard University, generally regarded the report as useful, though he
had hoped to see a wider range of legally compliant ideas offered.

"Ultimately, it’s helpful but incomplete," said Mr. Ancheta,
who had submitted a number of briefs to the high court on behalf of
several higher education associations in support of Michigan’s
policies. "By design, it’s looking at race-neutral programs and
not the full spectrum."

Vol. 23, Issue 30, Page 22

Published in Print: April 7, 2004, as Department Pushes Diversity Without Preferences

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